Suspect arraigned in boy's shooting death

STOCKTON - A suspected gang member was arraigned in San Joaquin County Superior Court on Thursday and charged in the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy last Friday.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - A suspected gang member was arraigned in San Joaquin County Superior Court on Thursday and charged in the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy last Friday.

Chanreasmey Prum, 22, was charged with a total of seven felonies in connection with the death of Aaron Kelly that make Prum eligible for the death penalty.

Prosecutors have yet to decide if they will make this a capital case.

The charges filed against Prum include murder, three counts of attempted murder and firing a gun as a gang member.

"Not guilty," Prum replied in a barely audible voice when Superior Court Judge James Hammerstone asked Prum to enter a plea in the case Thursday. Hammerstone assigned the San Joaquin County Public Defender's Office to represent Prum.

The arraignment came hours after Kelly's family, friends and others from the community gathered at a funeral service for the slain Hoover Elementary School student.

Kelly and his family were picnicking Friday in Louis Park when a masked man ordered them to leave the park and hollered out gang slogans, Kelly's mother, Renee Garcia, said earlier this week. She was driving her three children away from the park when shots rang out.

Kelly was hit, as was Garcia. She was able to drive them to a hospital, where Kelly was pronounced dead and she was treated for her gunshot wound.

Stockton police arrested Prum two days later.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Janet Smith said her office will wait until after the preliminary hearing in the case before deciding whether to seek the death penalty.

In a preliminary hearing, a judge decides if there is enough evidence to make a defendant stand trial before a jury.

Prum has a previous felony conviction, but Smith would not talk about his criminal record.

Smith declined to discuss a possible motive or other details of the case because the investigation remains open. She said the one glaring fact about the case is that Kelly did nothing to provoke the shooting.

"He was not in any way, shape or form involved with a street gang," Smith said, describing Kelly as a "sweet little boy." "He was 100 percent innocent."

Prum is expected to appear next in court on Thursday when a public defender will be assigned to handle his case.